CEBU CITY, March 20 -- African swine fever (ASF) virus has been detected in this city and four other areas in Cebu province, the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) reported on Monday.

BAI said the towns of Liloan, Tuburan, Sibonga and Bogo City have also reported ASF cases.

"The sample collection was conducted in backyard farms by the respective local government units (LGUs) as part of the disease investigation and surveillance," the statement said.

The samples were submitted to the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory (RADDL) in the region and tested using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the gold standard for testing and confirming the ASF virus.

The agency said it continu...